UIPM Statement on Viktoriya Tereshchuk

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) wrote to the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) on February 27, 2017 to communicate a Disciplinary Commission decision regarding the athlete Viktoriya Tereshchuk (Ukraine), winner of a bronze medal in the Women's Modern Pentathlon at the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing in 2008.

Viktoriya Tereshchuk has been disqualified from the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing in 2008 and instructed to return her bronze medal, diploma and medallist pin.

The Disciplinary Commission found that Viktoriya Tereshchuk had committed an anti-doping rule violation after it was established that she had tested positive for the presence and/or use of a Prohibited Substance in a bodily sample provided on August 22, 2008.

The substance in question was dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (turinabol), an exogenous anabolic steroid.

Viktoriya Tereshchuk has been informed of the decision via the Ukraine National Olympic Committee. She has 21 days in which to appeal to the Court of Arbitration.

The UIPM Anti-Doping Panel has been informed of the decision and will determine in due course the duration of the ineligibility period to be applied to Viktoriya Tereshchuk according to the UIPM Anti-Doping Rules and Procedures.

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann said: "The UIPM acknowledges the decision of the IOC Disciplinary Commission in respect of the athlete Viktoriya Tereshchuk.

"This is a highly regrettable and very rare case of a Modern Pentathlon being found to have committed an anti-doping violation, and UIPM is grateful to the IOC for having devised a system of detecting historic transgressions relating to the Olympic Games.

"UIPM is committed to promoting clean sport and protecting clean athletes, and will continue to maintain a robust anti-doping system in order to enshrine the values of respect and fair play as established by our founder, Baron Pierre de Coubertin."